SANTA CRUZ >> Ned LeBlond, whose photo project documenting shrinking glaciers garnered national media coverage, has an idea to tackle the affordable housing shortage, one he believes would be a win-win-win for homeowners struggling to pay their mortgage, long-term renters forced to move as rents rise and the county economy as a whole.

Valéria Miranda, a dancer and teacher from Brazil lured by the ocean to Santa Cruz, has an idea to put formerly incarcerated people on track for success with jobs making healthy food to sell, one she believes could benefit former inmates, the criminal justice system and the community.

The two entrepreneurs are the first fellows chosen to participate in the Santa Cruz social accelerator, a three-month pilot program designed to help new social ventures become scalable enterprises.

The social accelerator was developed by The Inspiring Enterprise, a new nonprofit founded by UC Santa Cruz alum Janneke Lang, who put on the successful Cruz Cares pitch contest in March.

Both fellows earned a master’s degree in business administration from the Presidio Graduate School, described by The New York Times as the place to go if you want to change the world.

LeBlond, 34, of Soquel, has experienced the challenge of finding an affordable rental since coming to Santa Cruz County three years ago.

He grew up in Montana, got a degree in physics at the University of Puget Sound, and was an educator for much of his career until he got that graduate degree and joined nonprofit Community Bridges as a grants analyst.

Rent squeeze

“It’s really hard to make rent,” he observed. “We don’t have as high a wage as over the hill but housing prices are so high people feel it here more than anywhere else.”

Zillow Research found the average rent for all types of housing in Santa Cruz County jumped 22 percent to $2,571 last October. Anecdotally, rents keep rising.

LeBlond knows homeowners barely making their mortgage payments and looking for extra income, which explains those 300-plus places in Santa Cruz for rent on Airbnb.com.

LeBlond sees the local economy stifled by high rents, leaving little to spend on anything else.

“There is not disposable income,” he said. “Building savings is nearly impossible.”

His solution is to change the culture of existing single-family homes, incentivizing homeowners via business discounts to rent out space they don’t use to “people they would be excited to live with.”

Homeowner incentives

His nonprofit, EquityStone, would create a marketplace to match homeowners and renters and talk with local government officials about lowering permit fees to encourage people to adapt their homes.

He aims to serve about 200 people in a year locally and in the San Francisco Bay Area before expanding to other regions.

He said he will ask participating homeowners for a donation, seek foundation grants and rely on fundraising at the outset with the goal of being financially independent in four to five years.

County officials have been talking about a plan to increase housing but LeBlond pointed out “there hasn’t been a lot of communication between homeowners, the county and renters. They’re making decisions in a vacuum.”

Robert Singleton, co-founder of Civinomics and a board member at The Inspiring Enterprise, sees LeBlond’s approach as unique, mixing homeowner incentives with an online marketplace matching renters and homeowners.

“He has to test out this financial model in the market,” Singleton said. “There’s a lot of stigma renting to low-income tenants.”

Low income in Santa Cruz County, as defined by the federal government, would be considered affluent in many other locales.

The median income for a two-person household is $69,600, so anything below that, “technically you’re considered low income,” Singleton noted.

Teaching in jail

Miranda, 52, a single mother of an 11-year-old, worked in art museums for 15 years before getting her business degree. But instead of pursuing a museum director’s post, she wants to use art and business as tools for social change.

She has seen the challenge of those formerly incarcerated face because she has been volunteering for three years to teach classes at the County Jail.

“Students have come in and out of my classes many times,” she said, recalling one woman in her mid-30s who had not had a legal job in seven years. “In the cycle of poverty, drugs and violence, they don’t have work history or skills.”

At the same time she saw a missed opportunity.

“So many creative souls if they have the proper nurturing,” she said.

Miranda talked with Stacey Smith, an artist with experience at the Gemma program working with women returning to the community after incarceration. They agreed: If you’re convicted of a felony, job opportunities are limited.

A foodie, Miranda was inspired by Drive Change, which builds and operates locally sourced food trucks that hire and teach formerly incarcerated youth in New York City, and tapped Rebecca Mastoris, a veteran chef, restaurateur and instructor at Bauman College of Holistic Nutrition in Santa Cruz, to join her team.

Food to heal

Her plan is to provide professional coaching that could last six months to a year or more to help participants advance to another job.

She expects to hire four to 10 employees working part-time and pay them livable wages. A food truck costs $25,000 and up.

“We’re definitely interested in investors,” she said.

Barbara Mason, the county’s economic development coordinator, cautioned that food truck operators must take care to pick a location where they are welcome.

The county does not issue permits for food trucks, so one setting up shop near established restaurants in a shopping center could generate a complaint about not enough parking spaces and a visit by a code compliance officer.

“Partner with a church or community hall,” Mason advised.

Cynthia Chase, a Santa Cruz City Council member who spent seven years running Gemma, said the business plan developed by Miranda and Smith is solid.

“They have years of experience devoted to working with the incarcerated population and to developing practical and relevant solutions to really complex issues,” Chase said. “I am confident that this project will be successful.”

SOCIAL VENTURE ACCELERATOR

What: Three-month pilot program for two startups focused on solving critical social and environmental issues in Santa Cruz County.

First two fellows: Ned LeBlond of EquityStone, developing a housing solution, and Valéria Miranda of Food for Change, training and jobs for formerly incarcerated people.

Creator: Launched by The Inspiring Enterprise, a nonprofit founded by Janneke Lang and founder of Cruz Cares pitch contest.

Strategy: Lean startup methodology, collaborative mentorship, weekly classes at Cruzioworks on topics from accounting to branding and pitch practice to develop competitive and scalable social enterprises.